Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms Hold Rating for Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold" rating reissued by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Northland Securities reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $146.00 target price (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Qualys in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Qualys from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on Qualys from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Qualys from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on Qualys from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $146.57.

Qualys Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:QLYS traded up $3.08 during trading on Monday, hitting $141.13. The stock had a trading volume of 347,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 391,542. Qualys has a 12 month low of $119.17 and a 12 month high of $174.31. The company has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a PE ratio of 30.35 and a beta of 0.56. The firm's fifty day moving average is $141.87 and its 200 day moving average is $135.43.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.16). Qualys had a return on equity of 39.64% and a net margin of 28.59%. Equities research analysts expect that Qualys will post 4.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Qualys

In other news, CEO Sumedh S. Thakar sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.49, for a total value of $941,430.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 225,453 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,321,173.97. This represents a 3.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeffrey P. Hank sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.31, for a total value of $585,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,666 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,853,162.46. This trade represents a 24.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 28,746 shares of company stock valued at $4,158,713. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Qualys

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in QLYS. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Qualys by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 84,300 shares of the software maker's stock worth $11,821,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Qualys by 60.7% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 253,114 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $35,492,000 after purchasing an additional 95,612 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Qualys during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,744,000. Chiron Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Qualys during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,411,000. Finally, Defined Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in Qualys during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $401,000. Institutional investors own 99.31% of the company's stock.

About Qualys

Qualys, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides cloud-based platform delivering information technology (IT), security, and compliance solutions in the United States and internationally. It offers Qualys Cloud Apps, which include Cybersecurity Asset Management and External Attack Surface Management; Vulnerability Management, Detection and Response; Web Application Scanning; Patch Management; Custom Assessment and Remediation; Multi-Vector Endpoint Detection and Response; Context Extended Detection and Response; Policy Compliance; File Integrity Monitoring; and Qualys TotalCloud, as well as Cloud Workload Protection, Cloud Detection and Response, Cloud Security Posture Management, Infrastructure as Code, and Container Security.